Tiny Mutation Triggers Drug Resistance For Patients With One Type Of Leukemia

Ibrutinib is a highly-effective, precisely targeted anti-cancer drug that received accelerated approval from the Food and Drug Administration for use in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) in February. It has revolutionized treatment, transforming CLL from a deadly disease to a chronic one. But about eight percent of patients develop resistance to this lifesaving drug.

“In a way, we are repeating, at a faster pace, the story of Gleevec (imatinib), a landmark drug that transformed care for a different type of leukemia,” said Wang, the study’s senior author. “That story began with development of an effective drug with few side effects, but in many patients the leukemia eventually found a way around it after long-term use. So researchers developed second-line drugs to overcome resistance.”